Homotopia Festival 2026: We Come Together
We Come Together, is an invitation.
To gather around a stage. To fill the dance floor. To join a workshop. To sing with others. To discover a new artist. To celebrate Queer brilliance. To remember our histories and imagine new futures together.
This November, Homotopia Festival returns with We Come Together, a celebration of Queer creativity in all its forms, bringing artists, audiences and communities together across Liverpool for four weeks of bold performance, visual art, film, music, conversation and collective joy.
As the UK’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival, Homotopia has spent over twenty years championing courageous artists and creating spaces where Queer stories can flourish. This year’s programme continues that tradition, celebrating the artists who paved the way while making space for the next generation of Queer voices.
The festival opens with a celebration of one of Liverpool’s most iconic creative communities as House of Suarez marks its twentieth anniversary with a spectacular runway event, before launching into an exciting programme that moves effortlessly between theatre, live art, comedy, club culture, film, workshops and public conversations. Iconic!
Across the festival you’ll find dazzling performance from acclaimed artists, opportunities to make and create alongside others, evenings spent dancing at Queer club nights, intimate film screenings, artist talks, community workshops and spaces dedicated to reflection and remembrance.
Some words from our Executive Director, Jayne Compton:
“Marking my first year as Director of Homotopia, the 2026 programme ‘We Come Together’ showcases an incredible breadth of queer work including dance, performance, film, club nights, digital and visual art. Liverpool is a city of extraordinary spirit, creativity, and diversity. The festival brings together LGBTQIA+ artists and audiences for experiences that surprise, move, and inspire. Building on Homotopia’s artistic and activist legacies, ‘We come together’ is an invitation to experience transformative art, to remember our histories and imagine new futures.”
This year’s programme celebrates the richness of Queer culture in all its forms.
It celebrates artists making fearless new work.
It celebrates communities preserving our histories through archives and storytelling.
It celebrates young people finding their creative voice through Young Homotopia.
It celebrates the people who have built Queer culture over generations, and those who will carry it forwards.
Because coming together isn’t about being the same, it’s about making space for one another. It’s about making space to connect with one another.
It’s about sharing ideas, celebrating difference, finding common ground and recognising that Queer culture has always been built collectively. Every conversation, every performance, every workshop and every gathering becomes part of something bigger: a vibrant, evolving artistic community shaped by artists and audiences alike.
Homotopia has always believed that art changes lives. Since 2004 we’ve supported artists from Liverpool City Region and around the world to tell stories that deserve to be seen, commissioning groundbreaking public artworks, nurturing emerging talent and creating opportunities for LGBTQIA+ communities to connect through creativity.
The festival is where all of those threads come together. It’s where established artists share the stage with emerging voices. Where local stories sit alongside international perspectives. Where audiences don’t simply watch, they participate, question, celebrate and create something new together. Whether you’re a lifelong supporter or joining us for the very first time, there’s a place for you here.
Our programme launch is incoming… are you ready?
We Come Together, October – November 2026.
Funded by Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council.
